Veteran Cornerback Stephon Gilmore Signs with Giants’ Week 1 Opponents

The Giants will host the Minnesota Vikings in Week 1 of the regular season.

October 8, 2023; Santa Clara, California, USA; Dallas Cowboys cornerback Stephon Gilmore (21) warms up before the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium. / Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

As the New York Giants continue to try to find answers among their young yet promising-looking defensive backfield, veteran cornerback Stephon Gilmore, who had been on most Giants fans’ wish list, has signed a one-year deal with the Minnesota Vikings, New York’s Week 1 opponent.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the deal is worth up to $10 million and includes a $7 million guaranteed.

The Giants, who have shown zero interest in bringing back veteran Adoree’ Jackson for another run, seem resigned to the fact that they’ll have to play out the coming season with a group of relatively young corners whose most senior member among those projected to make the 53-man roster,  is 5-year vet Darnay Holmes.

As revealed during the Hard Knocks series, the Giants were hoping to draft an outside cornerback in the second round, but those on their board were snatched up before the Giants went on the clock. They pivoted to safety Tyler Nubin in the second round and then snagged slot cornerback Dru Phillips in the third. 

As for the finances, the Giants are currently listed as having $10.073 million in cap space, the result of tight end Darren Waller’s retirement. They need that money to get through the season as far as being able to sign waiver wire transactions and elevate practice squad players.

While they could conceivably open up more cap space by restructuring left tackle Andrew Thomas’s deal, it’s clear that general manager Joe Schoen, who has in the past expressed a desire not to restructure existing contracts unless it was totally necessary, doesn’t want to do that right now, not with the 2025 salary cap expected to take another massive jump and not with there being a possibility of gaining cap space if the team moves on from quarterback Daniel Jones after this season.

But what about the cornerback situation? Less than ten days before the roster must be trimmed to 53 men, the Giants, who are currently sixth in the waiver wire order, will undoubtedly have their eye on the other cuts around the league.

They could also see if another team is willing to make a trade, though again, if the Giants find themselves in the market next year for a quarterback, they might not want to give up future assets so easily and instead just try to get through the current year with what they have.

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